


Unpleasant Surprise

by MochiiPrincess



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet, F/M, Love at First Sight, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-01 07:11:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20254210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MochiiPrincess/pseuds/MochiiPrincess
Summary: He thought everything about her was perfect - and then he learned about THAT.





	Unpleasant Surprise

Sylvain had never believed in love at first sight - that was, until he met _her._ From the second he saw her, the moment she had entered into the monastery flanked by the house leader’s and the knight captains, time had stopped. The birds had begun singing, the sun shining brighter, colours becoming more vibrant - every stupid, cheesy line he had ever used before, never once in sincerity, suddenly came to life. With jaw dropped and eyes round as saucers, Sylvain had nearly lost an ear to Felix where they had stood training, the rest of the world having faded out for the few moments she had been in his vision. It had even been worth the earful he’d gotten from Felix for being distracted just to spend a few more minutes looking at her.

At first Sylvain had rejected it. Surely this wasn’t love. Infatuation at best, perhaps; who could blame him for that? After all, she was nearly perfect: beautiful, composed, and as he got to know her more he soon found that she was intelligent, kind. Nobody could blame him for taking interest in someone like that, right? But surely he couldn’t be completely swept away that easily. After all, he was supposed to be the one sweeping women off of their feet - not the other way around.

Byleth - he’d savoured the way the name tasted on his tongue when he first tried it out. Like the rest of her, it was perfect. Beautiful, elegant, and strong - just like she was. A lovesick fool, the name crossed his mind too many times for him to count even in a single day, and he couldn’t help but imagine what it would sound like with his own surname on the end. Byleth Gautier - it sounded pretty good, in his opinion.

Nothing he did seemed to win her over. Flattery didn’t even manage to change her expression, solemn as ever, and when she didn’t refuse gifts for the sake of propriety as his professor it was always with a suspicious glare and hesitant thanks. The direct approach was a dud too; simply asking for her company was always met with pointed rejection, and as much as it stung it made Sylvain pine all the more. He was handsome, rich, powerful, adored with a crest - yet all that, all those shallow things that usually warned him favor with women, didn’t even make Byleth bat an eye.

It was just when Sylvain had finally admitted it, finally let himself acknowledge that maybe he was, truly, madly, completely in love with Byleth, when it all came crashing down. 

Her _crest_. She had one. That in itself was fine enough, but for nobles like him, like his brother, crests were everything. The fact that Byleth had been granted the power of one, of an amazing one, yet had never once been treated differently for it, never once had her value and worth assessed by one tiny quality she couldn’t control… it made his blood boil. Sylvain had always thought that was simply the weight crest-bearers had to carry.Immense power traded for the shallow love of those who cared about nothing but something so superficial, to never be seen as more than invisible marks and lines. But Byleth… the power of her crest had come with no price. And Sylvain couldn’t reel in his jealousy.

“You were a spoiled brat who should pay for that crest.” The words were coming out before he could rein them in, his anger as sharp as his words, burning hot in his stomach as he imagined what life would have been like if he hadn’t ever known about his crest, had grown up somewhere it hadn’t mattered; what life would have been like for his _brother,_ were that the case, and for so many other nobles in the kingdom. It was too unfair that Byleth had never suffered for what she had, and someone had to be upset about it; someone had to be angry, vengeful. Sylvain was.

“Maybe I’ll collect the debt.” The guilt was immediate, shame flaring up to rival his anger. To wish pain and suffering on someone who had only ever shown him kindness, someone he was just beginning to properly love… yet, at the same time, he couldn’t help his feelings; anger, resentment, at the injustice of it all.

“Ha! Gotcha! You should have seen the look on your face Professor.” _Professor_ It was the first time since he’d heard it that Sylvain hadn’t taken the opportunity to use Byleth’s name. It was a name he usually adored, daydreamed about. He couldn’t even bear to say it now.

“Ladies love a dark and brooding noble.” Sylvain cursed his need to reassure her, to want to settle the tiny crease in Byleth’s brow he had come to associate with worry, cursed himself for not wanting to over something so petty; he cursed _her_for entrapping him, tricking him, though he knew she had hardly done anything of the sort.

A small nod and Byleth was on her way, and Sylvain found himself even angrier at himself, at her, for the way he found himself unable to help but watch her leave.


End file.
